Artwork Page for Study of a Flayed Torso (verso)

Details / Information for Study of a Flayed Torso (verso)

Study of a Flayed Torso (verso)

1554

Bartolommeo da Arezzo

(Italian, active about 1550–80)
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Culture
Italy, 16th century
Medium
pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash over traces of black chalk; incised
Support
Cream(3) laid paper
Measurements
Sheet: 40.5 x 27.6 cm (15 15/16 x 10 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
L. E. Holden Fund 1975.26.b
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Description

In order to understand the movement of the human form, Michelangelo was known to have studied flayed bodies (cadavers with their skin removed) and in fact made several drawings of them. Bartolommeo da Arezzo—a follower of Michelangelo working a generation after the master—became obsessed with studying corpses, even stealing them from local graveyards. On one side of this sheet (verso), he drew a flayed torso.
A vertically oriented ink and wash drawing on aged brown paper depicts a flayed male torso facing forward. Dark lines and washes define the musculature of the chest and abdomen. On the shoulder to our right, skin is peeled back to reveal underlying muscle. To our left, a muscular arm extends downward. Faint inscriptions and dark spots mark the creased paper, with small text in the lower corners.

Study of a Flayed Torso (verso)

1554

Bartolommeo da Arezzo

(Italian, active about 1550–80)
Italy, 16th century

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